Posted by Pono Kealoha on February 25, 2008 at 3:05pm
Army Sued to Clear Ordnance from Hawaiian TemplesEnvironmental News Service, February 20, 2008Today, community group Malama Makua asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii to order the U.S. Army to move quickly to expand cultural access to Native Hawaiian sites at Makua Military Reservation on Oahu.This access is required under the October 4, 2001 settlement that resolved Malama Makua's lawsuit challenging the Army's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for training at Makua.Instead of clearing unexploded ordnance to open new sites to cultural access, as the settlement requires, the Army has, since February 2005, used the possible presence of unexploded ordnance as an excuse to eliminate nearly all access.After years of fruitless negotiations with the Army, Malama Makua is seeking the court's assistance to compel the Army to keep the promises it made when it voluntarily entered into the settlement."By denying access, the Army is denying our right to practice our religion," explained Malama Makua president Sparky Rodrigues. "To connect with our ancestors, 'aumakua [family gods] and akua [gods], we have to be able to walk up to cultural sites, oli [chant] and present ho'okupu [offerings]. That's why, when we settled the case in 2001, we insisted that the Army agree to give us access to cultural sites and promptly remove unexploded ordnance to expand our opportunities for access.""Instead of honoring its word, the Army has tried to keep us out, locking the door to our church," said Rodrigues.Makua, which means "parents" in Hawaiian, is a sacred area, rich in cultural resources. Over 100 Native Hawaiian cultural sites have been identified at in the Makua Valley, including heiau [Hawaiian temples], ahu [altars], burials and petroglyphs.For over three years, from the settlement's entry on October 4, 2001 until February 27, 2005, the Army allowed Malama Makua and others access to over a dozen cultural sites, without incident.Then, claiming unexploded ordnance posed a safety threat, the Army suddenly cut off access to all but a single site.The Army has been slow to clear ordnance to allow access to resume, reopening only three sites for the first time on February 9, 2008, after three years of closure.The other nine sites to which cultural practitioners formerly had access remain off-limits, and the Army has refused to commit to a schedule for their reopening."In the six years since the settlement was entered, the Army has failed to open access to a single new site at Makua," said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represents Malama Makua. "Instead, it has moved in the opposite direction, barring cultural practitioners from sites they had visited for years. The Army's delay violates both the letter and the spirit of its agreement."Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008.
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